Tubular knitted diaper



Dec 1, 1936.

MMWM: x

L. R. M NAIR TUBULAR KNITTED DIAPER Filed Aug. 5, 1953 Fatented Dec. 1, 1936 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to diapers and particularly to certain improvements on the tubular knitted diaper which forms the subject-matter of Patent No. 1,329,619, granted to me on February 3, 1920. In this patent, a diaper is described which is composed of elastic knit goods and which has two thicknesses of knit material without seams, buttons or buttonholes or raw edges and which is narrowed or purled at each end so that the diaper when folded and in place yieldingly or elastically fits around the waist of the child.

The general object of this present invention is to improve upon the diaper disclosed in said patent by also narrowing the diaper at the middle, by purling the middle of the diaper so that the diaper will have a better shape conforming to the line of the babys body and so that superfluous fullness between the babys legs will be eliminated and to secure certain other advantages as will be more fully brought out hereinafter.

In the drawing:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my improved diaper in applied position.

Figure 2 is a face view of the diaper laid fiat out.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Referring to this drawing, l0 designates the tubular body of the diaper which is composed of knitted soft and fleecy material and which has, generally speaking, a rectangular shape. The diaper is narrowed at the ends by changing the stitch so that the diaper has gradually contracted end portions II, the extremity of these end portions being bound by stitching I3. The middle portion of the diaper for a distance on each side of the middle is also contracted as at I2, by

'changing the stitch so that this middle portion is narrower than the portions on each side of the middle portion.

The diaper is used, as illustrated in Figure 1, where safety pins I4 are shown pinned through the ends of the diaper to hold the diaper in place. Safety pins I5 may also be used to attach the stockings to the diaper and the edges of the body ID of the diaper may also be pinned together below the waist and along the sides of the legs by 50 the pins l6.

To put on the diaper, the diaper is laid fiat, thus forming two thicknesses of material and the middle or narrowed portion of the body I0 is placed between the legs of the baby and the ends 55 of the diaper then drawn upward to the waist line where they are brought together, overlapped and pinned, as described.

The body of the diaper is formed of soft knitted cotton and is, therefore, elastic and hence will snugly fit the body and legs of the infant and 5 still allow complete freedom of movement without binding. I

The advantages obtained by narrowing the middle portion of the diaper are as follows: The garment has a better shape and conforms to the 10 lines of thebabys body; the narrowing of the diaper at that portion which comes between the babys legs eliminates superfluous fullness which is not desirable while still allowing plenty of full-, ness around the babys hips where it is needed; 16 the narrowing of the knitted diaper produced by a change of stitch shapes the diaper to the babys form without any seams, darts or raw edges to chafe or irritate; the fabric produced by this change of stitch and the consequent narrowing of the diaper at its middle makes the diaper more elastic and causes it to come back into shape and assures the retention of its shape after repeated laundering and sterilizing. By eliminating the excess material between the baby's legs, it not only adds to the babys comfort but eliminates one of the causes of bowlegs. It further eliminates all wrinkles and folds which would otherwise tend to cause chafing and irritation. The diaper is form-fitting and adjusts itself to every 30 movement of the baby's body. Furthermore, the fabric produced by this change of stitch and consequent narrowing of the diaper between the babys legs is more absorbent than the wider part of the diaper which covers the stomach and hips 35 and because of the change of stitch and narrowing of the diaper at its middle, the seat of the diaper is longer wearing.

By the term purling as referring to the narrowed parts II and 12, it is to be understood that 40 I refer to any change of stitch which will cause a narrowing of the diaper at these points. In actual practice, the stitch that forms the narrow portion of the garment, whether at the ends, or at the middle, is what is known as a plain rib stitch while the stitch which forms the wide part of the garment, is what is known as a tuck stitch. Obviously I do not wish to be limited to any particular form of stitch for forming the wide and narrow portions of the garment.

I claim:

1. A diaper made of tubular knitted fleecy fabric, the diaper having a generally rectangular form of two thicknesses when laid flat, the ends of the diaper being narrowed to provide elastic 'formed into a continuous piece of tubular form or substantially rectangular shape and of two thicknesses when laid flat and which is adapted to form an iniants diaper when placed and folded between its legs, the ends of the diaper being contracted to fit snugly yet resiliently about the waist of the infant and the middle portion of the diaper being similarly contracted to provide an elastic portion to fit between the infant's legs, said middle portion of the diaper being of denser material-content than the adjoining portions to provide an absorbent area between the infant's legs.v

3. A diaper made of knitted material and formed into a continuous piece of tubular form or and being formed by close-knitting of the material. a

4. A form-fitting diaper made of a single piece of tubular knitted material of substantially rectangular shape and of double thickness when laid flat, the ends and middle portion of the diaper being purled to form an elastic waist-band and a thickened absorbent area between the infant's legs, respectively.

LOUISE R. MCNAIR. 

